As part of this year’s panel discussions, films and award banquet, event organizers initiated a writing contest. Members have already submitted their entries and a panel of judges selected the best eight. You are invited to vote for your People’s Choice Award, along with units in Iraq and Afghanistan, who will also participate in casting their ballots.

Military writer and historian Richard S. Lowry says, “We want worldwide participation. Can you help us get the word out?”

We just did!

Punch the keys!

From Finding Forrester: “No thinking – that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is … to write, not to think!”

Can you write 50,000 words in 30 days? National Novel Writing Month is a seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. You begin writing Nov. 1 with the goal of writing a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, Nov. 30.

“It’s all about quantity, not quality,” the website states. “The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.”

Total collective word count for 2008: 1,643,343,993!

There were over 100,000 participants in 2007. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

“Punch the keys, for God’s sake!”

Who is Bob Ewell?

Bob Ewell is the racist character who destroyed the life of an innocent man in the movie “To Kill A Mockingbird,” a classic American film based on Harper Lee’s novel of life in 1936 Alabama and the racial injustice that resided there.

The left repeatedly plays the race card as if we still lived in 1930s Alabama. This iconic film shows what real racism is. Watch “To Kill a Mockingbird” for free at Like Television, where it is rated the most requested film of all time.

Like Television also features cartoons, movies, classic TV, vintage toy commercials, classic comedy and The Video Time Machine, with over a thousand short archive clips about history and Hollywood, famous people, places and things.

Sunday morning talk shows – Hair of the Dog

“This Week” I wasn’t in the mood to “Meet the Press” or “Face the Nation.” No problem. Steve Green, the Vodkapundit and Monday morning quarterback, gave me an insightful recap of the Sunday morning chat shows with “a stiff shot of wit and a biting dash of humor,” on The Hair of the Dog, available on Pajamas TV.

Dennis C. from Florida sent this along with the message: “This clever piece originated in Australia. It is so very well done most people don’t realize how much info he is sharing! Speakers on. Photos by NASA. Enjoy your journey!”

Facebook as big as the USA

Facebook: the fourth largest nation in the world? This social networking site tripled its membership roll in the last year to a total of 300 million members, almost equivalent to the population of the United States.

“Facebook’s most powerful marketing tool has been one teenager saying to another, ‘What, you’re not on Facebook? Are you kidding? Everybody is on Facebook.’”

Are you?

Movie trivia

WorldNetDaily Surfin’ Safari readers Wendi M. and John H. of Spokane, Wash., correctly answered this week’s movie trivia question. Both identified the character Rankin Fitch played by Gene Hackman in the movie Runaway Jury, a film about a juror on the inside and a woman on the outside who manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.

Our movie trivia question this week: which character said, “Just once in my life, I’m gonna own my temper.”

Name the character, actor and movie. Send your answer to me at the email address below. The first three readers to guess correctly will be announced in next week’s Surfin’ Safari.